Thursday, March 3, 2011

'Tussie Mussie': Not My Métier

#7 Motif Challenge
Tussie Mussie by Rosemarie Peel

Okay - I have had enough of a break from tatting the border.. .grrr.  I will not post anything new before I get that finished.  Actually, it is pleasant to tat and is looking good, so I am not sure what the problem is.  I think Spring is beginning to weave her wander-lusting fingers around my soul!

The bright, but cold mornings bring warm, sunny rays through the window, and The Cat and I are definitely feeling the change of season.  Finally.

Now, about the Tussie Mussie.  I loved the picture in the 30th Anniversary Book of Patterns published by the Ring of Tatters.  It is a lovely design.  For me, however, I find this type of work to be much too fiddly and I like designs that are more... solid.  Heavy.  Gothic.  That much I have discovered recently.

It has sure taken  a lot of time and effort to see what I really enjoy!  I would have thought that my personal preferences would be much more defined after two years of tatting.  I am the same way after MANY decades of buying my own shoes, deciding on my footwear!


14 comments:

  1. Pretty, pretty. It would make a lovely broach.

    And I love seeing The Cat in your header....

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  2. What a cat in the title of your blog!!!!! )))

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  3. It is a lovely little thing you've got going there, and I do hope you'll finish it. I understand why it might not be for everybody, though. The longer I tat, the more patient I become with hiding ends, but there was a time when I would never have considered a project like that, simply because of the number of ends.

    I understand how you feel about the edging, too. I'm having the same feelings about the table runner for my cousin. I like the design, I really do. And it's not unpleasant to tat. But....

    Squijum is feeling the Spring, too. He can't wait for me to open the blinds in the morning, and then he'll sit there forever watching the goings-on. It's almost time to put the hummingbird feeder out; I wonder how he'll react to that?

    Right, I should probably get into the shower and get my day started, instead of sitting here writing books in your comments all day.

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  4. Miranda...HAHAHAHAH! It IS finished!
    Fox : ))

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  5. I have this pattern and was thinking of making it as at one of the flower festivals here visitors are going to be invited to make Tussie Mussies (not out of tatting!)
    So was really pleased to see you had made it because it looked far to fiddly for me!! It looks great

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  6. ...wow...it'S wonderful. Tatting is relaxing!

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  7. This looks quite delicate, Fox! But, very pretty.

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  8. Very pretty! I like all the elements, but I'm not sure I'd have the patience to put it all together!

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  9. Looking very pretty lovely elements keep up the good work.
    Margaret

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  10. My creative brain is not quite computing something...why is this called "Tussie Mussie?"
    (I know what a tussie mussie is...a small, bridal bouquet from Victorian times, yes?)

    Is this tatted representation supposed be looking straight down from the top of the bouquet? If so, are the greens and flowers hanging over the edges of the container?

    http://www.weddingdepot.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/930

    What are your thoughts?

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  11. Isdihara, Rosemary Peel explains that the tussie mussie is a nosegay or posy of herbs and flowers that originally was used to ward off illness and bad odours.

    Eventually they were used to express a sentiment, like true love or constancy and other emotional messages.

    This pattern is supposed to be a moss ball, fern leaf and flower spray.

    I looked on-line and found that:

    Historically a Victorian bridal bouquet, the tussie-mussie is a popular arrangement that can be used for any occasion. From a dainty fingertip bouquet to a more lavish creation, the tussie-mussie can be designed to be hand-held or arranged in a vase.

    They have existed in some form since at least medieval times.

    The word has gone through lots of different forms, suggesting that its early users were as uncertain about its antecedents as we are today. Its first recorded appearance was in about 1440, when it was written as tusmose. In later centuries the spelling settled down to tuzzy-muzzy.

    By the end of the seventeenth century it seems to have disappeared from the standard language.

    Fox : )

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